Pair Charged In Murders Of Deacon, Musician Last December

(STMW) — Two men have been charged with murder for separate shootings that killed a deacon and a musician blocks apart on the Southeast Side last December.

Mark Hall and Devin Alridge, both 23, are each charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the Dec. 19, 2013, shootings that killed Deacon Willie Cooper and musician Eric “Guitar” Davis, authorities said.

Both Davis and Cooper were sitting in parked vehicles when they were shot about half an hour and three blocks apart in the early morning hours, police said at the time.

Cooper, 74, was waiting to give a friend a ride to work when he was shot at 4:44 a.m. in the 7000 block of South East End Avenue. Davis, 41, was sitting in his vehicle in the 6700 block of South East End about 5:20 a.m. when he was shot, police said.

Both Davis, of the 14200 block of South Eggleston in Riverdale; and Cooper, of the 6800 block of South Crandon, were dead at the scene, the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office said.

The killers left footprints in the snow. Area Central Police Cmdr. Eugene Roy says detectives traced the route to determine where they could find surveillance cameras on buildings.

The cameras provided images of the suspects on surveillance video. Then, fliers went out with those faces.

Davis’ widow is relieved.

“I don’t have to wonder if they’re still walking the street, what they look like, are they still killing other people, is someone else still getting hurt?” Leslie Bell tells CBS 2’s Mike Parker.

Roy calls it a rewarding day.

“It’s more rewarding because of the especially brutal nature of these two murders,” he says.

Hall, of the 7000 block of South East End Avenue; and Alridge, of the 1600 block of East 68th Street, are expected to appear in bond court Saturday, according to a Chicago Police statement.